Our mission at AbeBooks is to help people find and buy any book from any bookseller anywhere. We provide you with essential services and opportunities not available to booksellers through any other listing service.

You will first need to set up an account on AbeBooks if you do not already have one. If you have an account, please click [Sign on] at the top of the website to sign on to your existing account. After signing on, simply click [Sell Books].

To create a new account:

1. Click [Sell Books] located in the red bar at the top of our website 2. Read about the advantages of becoming an AbeBooks seller3.Click on [SIGN UP NOW to become an AbeBooks Bookseller] 4. Go through the Registration Check-list5. Click on [SIGN UP NOW to become an AbeBooks Bookseller] at the bottom of the page again and you will be directed to the Registration form6. Enter the required information in the fields indicated by an asterisk *7. Click on [Save & Continue] at the bottom of the page

Once you have created your account or signed on, you may continue to our online application. The online application follows the steps outlined below:

Bookseller Details & the AbeBooks Agreement

Acceptable Payment Methods

Banking Information

Shipping Rates

Credit Card Information for fees

Welcome to AbeBooks

Entering your Details & Read and Accept the AbeBooks Agreement

Please enter your information in the fields indicated by an asterisk '*'.

You will then be presented with the AbeBooks Agreement, which has two components:

The Bookseller agreement and the AbeBooks Guide, which has three sections:

How AbeBooks Works - an explanation of how AbeBooks Web Sites work

Code of Conduct - outlines the standards expected of booksellers

Performance Standards - the criteria upon which your participation will be measured

We encourage applicants to read the entire agreement and review the "Fee Schedule" before clicking the [Yes, I Agree With The Above] button. You can now enter your VAT registration (click [Skip] if you are not VAT registered) and then move on to the next step to "Choose Payment Options".

Choosing Your Acceptable Payment Methods

In addition to credit card payments, which are processed by the AbeBooks Payment System, you can select other payment methods you wish to accept. These will be displayed as possible payment options to buyers when they purchase from you.

To select your Acceptable Payment Methods:

1. Select the payment methods you accept such as cheque, money order or PayPal2. Click the [Continue] button at the bottom of the page

Entering Your Banking Information

In order to facilitate timely payment of funds to our booksellers, we require current bank account information. There is no risk involved when entering your bank details as we will only credit you and never charge your bank account, as we do not have such facilities for direct debits. To add your bank details:

Note: The sort code and account numbers are located on the bottom of your cheques. If you are unsure as to which information is required, please contact your financial institution for clarification.

Reviewing and Accept the AbeBooks Shipping Matrix

These are the rates that buyers will see and the amounts that AbeBooks will reimburse to you. You will need to accept these rates in order to complete your registration as a bookseller. Once your account is opened the rates can be adjusted. Once you have viewed the AbeBooks shipping matrix click on the [Accept] button.

Entering Your Credit Card Information

On the first Friday of each month, you will receive by email a statement from AbeBooks detailing applicable fees. If a balance is owing, this will be charged to the credit card you have saved to your account. (If you do not have a credit card, please skip this section).

Once all of the above information is submitted, we will review your application and send an email to confirm receipt. Once we have received your application we will contact you to finalise the registration.

Thank you for your application! We look forward to welcoming you to our online bookseller community soon.

Whether you are a professional bookseller with a shop or a private individual selling your collection you can list on AbeBooks. As long as you accept the bookseller agreement and adhere to the standards that we strive to keep on AbeBooks, we are happy to have you on board.

If you are a European bookseller located outside of the UK, click here for the AbeBooks fees in Euro.

Monthly Subscription Rates:

For a reasonable monthly subscription fee, which is calculated according to the amount of books you list, your books will be listed worldwide on AbeBooks.co.uk, AbeBooks.com, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.it and IberLibro.com (our Spanish website):

Number of Books

Monthly Fees

0 - 500

£17

501 - 4,000

£25

4,001 - 10,000

£28

10,001 - 20,000

£35

20,001 - 30,000

£53

30,001 - 50,000

£83

50,001 - 100,000

£120

100,001 - 150,000

£175

150,001 - 500,000

£250

500,001+

£350

Transaction Fees

Upon a successful sale via the AbeBooks shopping basket, a sales commission of 8% on the total item amount (book price + shipping + extra charges) is incurred. The minimum sales commission is 30p per book; the maximum sales commission is £22 per book. When processing credit card payments, AbeBooks will charge an additional processing fee as follows:

For orders placed on the AbeBooks.co.uk and AbeBooks.com websites, a 5.5% fee is charged on any total item amount below £275. If the total item amount exceeds £275 a 3.5% fee applies to the remaining total item amount.*Orders placed on the AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.it and IberLibro.com websites will be charged at 3.5% for the total item amount.

*E.g. For an AbeBooks.co.uk or AbeBooks.com order totalling £500:

The first £275 of the total item amount incurs a 5.5% processing fee

The remaining £225 of the total item amount incurs a 3.5% processing fee

The minimum processing fees are based on the transaction currency of the website via which orders are placed, and are applied to each item in the order, as follows:

Please Note: The prices quoted above do not include VAT. According to EU regulations, AbeBooks charges VAT on sales fees and commissions. If you are VAT registered please enter your VAT registration number in the appropriate field when applying for a bookseller account in order to be exempt from the VAT charge.

In accordance with South African regulations, AbeBooks charges South African VAT (14%) on fees and commissions for sellers located in South Africa.

How can I pay AbeBooks?

We are flexible in your payment method; we can accept Visa, MasterCard cheque or bank transfer. When you pay us via credit card you enter in the details online and we automatically charge your card each month. This is the quickest payment method. If you prefer you can also pay us via cheque or bank transfer. You will need to await the first Friday of every month and then send us the amount due on your email invoice.

If you wish to pay by Visa or MasterCard, you can set up your payments by entering your credit card information online via our secure server:

To pay via bank transfer please quote your account number as a reference. Your account number can be found at the top of your AbeBooks statements. Our bank details are also contained in your AbeBooks statements.

To pay via cheque please quote your account number on the reverse, make payable to "AbeBooks Europe GmbH" and post to:

AbeBooks Europe GmbHRonsdorfer Str 77a40233 DusseldorfGermany

Thank you in advance for your payment. Contact us if you have any questions about how to pay.

Direct Debits:

Some sellers located in Europe have the ability to pay AbeBooks seller fees via SEPA Direct Debit from European bank accounts. By providing AbeBooks with your debit account information, you authorize

(A) AbeBooks to send instructions to your bank to debit your account.(B) Your bank to debit your account in accordance with the instructions from AbeBooks.

As a part of your rights, you are entitled to a refund from your bank under the terms and conditions of your agreement with your bank. A refund must be claimed within 8 weeks starting from the date on which your account was debited.

For a reasonable monthly subscription fee, which is calculated according to the amount of books you list, your books will be listed worldwide on AbeBooks.co.uk, AbeBooks.com, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.it and IberLibro.com (our Spanish website):

Number of Books

Monthly Fees

0 - 250

€15

251 - 500

€25

501 - 4,000

€37

4,001 - 10,000

€42

10,001 - 20,000

€53

20,001 - 30,000

€80

30,001 - 50,000

€125

50,001 - 100,000

€200

100,001 - 150,000

€275

150,001 - 500,000

€350

500,000+

€450

Transaction Fees

Upon a successful sale via the AbeBooks shopping basket, a sales commission of 8% on the total item amount (book price + shipping + extra charges) is incurred. The minimum sales commission is €0.40 per book; the maximum sales commission is €32 per book. When processing credit card payments, AbeBooks will charge an additional processing fee as follows:

For orders placed on the AbeBooks.co.uk and AbeBooks.com websites, a 5.5% fee is charged on any total item amount below €400. If the total item amount exceeds €400 a 3.5% fee applies to the remaining total item amount.*Orders placed on the AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.it and IberLibro.com websites will be charged at 3.5% for the total item amount.

*E.g. For an AbeBooks.co.uk or AbeBooks.com order totalling €500:

The first €400 of the total item amount incurs a 5.5% processing fee

The remaining €100 of the total item amount incurs a 3.5% processing fee

Please Note: The prices quoted above do not include VAT. According to EU regulations, AbeBooks charges VAT on sales fees and commissions. If you are VAT registered please enter your VAT registration number in the appropriate field when applying for a bookseller account in order to be exempt from the VAT charge.

In accordance with South African regulations, AbeBooks charges South African VAT (14%) on fees and commissions for sellers located in South Africa.

Your books will be listed worldwide - just one subscription and one upload.With just one upload your titles will be listed on all AbeBooks web sites worldwide - AbeBooks.co.uk, AbeBooks.com, AbeBooks.de, AbeBooks.fr, AbeBooks.it and IberLibro.com (our Spanish website) - thereby reaching customers worldwide in a very simple way!

The world is your customer:

AbeBooks is the worldwide number one among new, used and antiquarian book platforms and marketplaces

In total, between 20,000 and 25,000 books are sold daily via AbeBooks

A considerable amount of these sales are foreign customers ordering from British bookseller members

The most important international markets for British booksellers are, amongst others, the USA and Pacific Rim as well as neighbouring European countries

By participating in international trade you are not restricted to such profit limits as experienced at a national level

Secure credit card processing:

AbeBooks will process all credit card payments on your behalf and carry the cost of fraudulent purchases made using credit cards. We will credit you weekly for these sales by Electronic Funds Transfer to your bank account. For this service we charge a 5.5% processing fee per transaction, which is included on your monthly invoice statement.

Access to the AbeBooks international affiliate network:

Alongside operating its web sites, AbeBooks has an ever-increasing network of partner web sites over which your books are sold as well. Known names such as Addall.com and WHSmith are just some to mention.

If you have a Firewall and/or Anti-Virus software installed on your PC you may need to adjust the privacy control. The option for enabling web browser privacy needs to be switched off. Should you need assistance, we have provided links below to major providers. As some providers do charge for technical assistance, please check for charges before requesting support:

If you do not remember your password, you will need to reset it, please follow the next steps:

- Click the [Forgot Your Password] button

- We will then send an email to the address you provided. This email will provide a link to a secure password reset page.

- Simply click the link or copy/paste it into your browser's address bar to create a new password and log into your AbeBooks account.

If you did not receive the email, please check your Spam or Junk mail folders. Please note that the link in the email expires after 2 hours, and you will then need to click the [Forgot Your Password] button again.

When creating your new password, please keep the following rules in mind:

- Your password must contain at least 8 characters and include no spaces or single quotes

- Your password must include at least 1 lower case letter (a–z)

- Your password must include at least 1 upper case letter, a number, or any special character (e.g., A-Z, 1-9, !@#$%^&*~)

- Your password can not be the same as your email address

- Your password can not be the same as your previous AbeBooks password

You can easily view the English version of the AbeBooks European Bookseller Agreement [here].

If you wish to print and read the agreement and proceed with the registration at a later date you may of course do so. After registering, we will email you a copy of the agreement and once we have opened a bookseller account you will be able to view the agreement at any time via your bookseller account.

The Bookseller Agreement can be terminated at any time. Please contact our Customer Servicewith your reasons for the closure request. We will then review your account and address any of your concerns. If you decide that the account needs to be closed, we will confirm this by email and close the account at the end of that calendar month. You will receive a final invoice at the beginning of the following month.

To ensure the satisfaction of both booksellers and book buyers on our website AbeBooks has issued some guidelines. Upon registration, all booksellers declare that they accept these guidelines and policies. Being familiar with our policies will assist you in making your AbeBooks experience and that of your customers a successful one.

Your Bookstore Information

Your AbeBooks Inventory

Your Customer Service

Order Processing & Refunds

Bookseller Ratings

Your Bookstore Information

AbeBooks offers several fields to enter key information that will assist with your book sales. We ask that all information listed in these fields be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. All information should be included only in the designated fields and all booksellers should refrain from redirecting buyers to other websites or any alternative means of placing their orders.

AbeBooks reserves the right to review and edit any information fields to remove unacceptable content. Should any restricted information be found, the bookseller will be notified. If the issue persists the bookseller account may be suspended or even closed. For further details on the above, see the full policy online.

Bookstore Name – Your bookstore name is the name you will trade under on AbeBooks. It is not permitted to use an email address, URL or any reference to a web site as your bookstore name.

Terms of Sale – You may use this field to state your business policies such as payment options, return policies, and other important information potential buyers should know. The terms of sale are viewable on the book details pages and on your AbeBooks Storefront. Return/refund policies cannot conflict with the terms outlined in the AbeBooks Bookseller Agreement.

Shipping Terms – You may use this field to communicate your shipping information to buyers throughout the checkout process. This can include average weight of a book, how items are packaged, if pricing includes insurance, etc.

Inappropriate Use of Information Fields - All information must be provided only in the fields designated for it; information about shipping and returns cannot appear in a book's description. No fields can contain information contradictory to AbeBooks' policies. AbeBooks will, at our discretion, review and edit these fields to remove HTML code and any unacceptable text.

Contact information must only be included in the specified contact information fields. AbeBooks provides designated fields for the following information:

Email address

Phone and fax number

Web site URL

Terms of Sale

Shipping Terms

Redirection - Booksellers may not redirect buyers by any means to another web site or alternative sales channel as an alternative to AbeBooks for making their purchases. Any bookseller found to be redirecting customers to another web site or alternate sales channel is subject to a warning and possible removal from the AbeBooks web sites, at the discretion of AbeBooks.

In addition, booksellers may not include email addresses or web site URLs in any field other than those specifically intended for them.

Examples of redirection include, but are not limited to, the following:

AbeBooks is a global marketplace for books; however, booksellers may also offer ephemera such as maps, sheet music, greeting cards, bookmarks, letters, posters, and other such printed collectables. Below you will find the mandatory requirements for listing your books, a summary of the listings that are only permitted when certain conditions are met, as well as unacceptable listings.

Listing Requirements:

File formats – AbeBooks can work with a number of different file formats and software. Booksellers can also take advantage of our free HomeBase inventory management software, or upload their listings manually online.

Technical requirements – When uploading a book file, it is required that the file be sent in a tab or tilde (~) delimited file, saved in a .txt format. Each subsequent file uploaded must be arranged in the same order, containing the exact same fields, as the original file.

Mandatory fields – All listings are required to have a unique Listing ID, Title, Author, Price and Condition in order to be listed on AbeBooks.

Book descriptions – Only information about the specific book may be included in the book descriptions. Details about shipping, bookstore information, etc. are not permitted.

Acceptable Listings and Conditions:

Print on DemandItems – Should clearly state "This item is printed on demand" in the description and have the current year as the publication date. Your shipping matrix should be adjusted to reflect the actual shipping times to give an accurate estimated delivery date.

Ebooks – Should clearly state the actual file format in the description along with having "This is an ebook" clearly written in the description.

Audio Books - Should clearly state the format in the description and have "This is an audio book" written in the description.

International Editions – Must be clearly identified with "International Edition" in the description. No abbreviations are allowed.

Photocopies, Scanned Copies or Printed Copies – Are only permitted when they are free of copyright restrictions or when the copyright holder has provided written permission to reproduce. The bookseller must be able to provide documented permission when requested. The description must clearly state, "This is a photocopy" Or, "This is a scanned copy", Or "This is a printed copy of digital content available at [name of source, (i.e. Wikipedia)]". All such listings must be listed with the current year as the publication date, or with the publication date left blank, not the original date of publication.

Unacceptable Listings:

Pre-listings - Items for sale may not be listed if they have not yet been made available to the public.

DVD's & VHS Films – Films and movies should not be listed.

Music CD's – Music CD's should not be listed.

Computer Games – Computer and video games should not be listed.

Multiple Listings – A bookseller may only list a maximum of one (1) of the same new book or two (2) of the same used book. A quantity field should be used to list many copies of the same title. It is not permitted for booksellers to manipulate the book prices and/or descriptions without justification in order to list more books.

In Copyright Violation – This includes listings whereby another bookseller's description has been directly copied.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to remove any listing, which includes requests from rights holders and items deemed defamatory or illegal.

Your Customer Service

Providing the best customer service possible is the key to ensuring that buyers return again and again. It is also a great source for word-of-mouth business growth. As a minimum requirement, we ask that you follow our Customer Service guidelines:

Responding to Enquiries - Simply responding to buyers greatly helps build buyer trust. If you use an email service such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Mail, you can filter or search your AbeBooks emails to help differentiate between order emails and buyer enquiries.

Buyer Enquiries – We ask that you respond to all buyer pre- and post-order enquiries in a polite and professional manner within 2 business days.

AbeBooks Complaints – If we receive a complaint from a buyer, we will send you an AbeBooks Complaint notification email. We expect that these notifications will be treated with a high priority and be answered within 2 business days. All complaint notifications will be tracked on your account and a high amount of complaints may result in a suspension.

Order Processing, Shipping & Refunds:

Shipping Orders – Be sure to check for any special requests from the buyer before shipping the order.All orders should be shipped within 2 days of processing and the buyer should be informed that their order has been processed and shipped. Booksellers are required to ship books using a method intended to deliver the book in the timeframe quoted to the buyer. Responsibility for undelivered items lies with the bookseller; therefore we recommend shipping with a carrier that provides signature confirmation whenever it is available for the buyer's country.

Ensuring Safe Delivery of Orders – We recommend that booksellers package orders securely to avoid damage. The bookseller is responsible for the condition of the book when it is delivered to the buyer. Insuring orders protects the bookseller id the item is lost or damaged in transit. Signature delivery confirmation protects the bookseller should an order fail to arrive. If the order is for a 'Print on Demand' item you should ensure the shipping method you choose corresponds to the shipping speeds shown during checkout. We also recommend including a sales invoice with your shipment. Trackable shipping is also highly recommended and any tracking information should be added online.

Processing refunds for the buyer – AbeBooks supports refunds for any reason as we feel this builds buyer trust, results in a positive buyer experience, and encourages repeat purchases.You have up to 90 days past the order processing date to refund a buyer. If a buyer contacts you regarding a refund, you can simply process the refund. If the order is more than 90 days old, contact us and we will process the refund on your behalf.

Completing Returns – When you receive a book back, ensure to complete the return so the buyer is refunded as quickly as possible. If you leave the refund to automatically complete, it can take up to 77 days to refund the buyer.

Disputes – If a disagreement arises with a buyer we expect that you will work toward a mutual resolution that is also in agreement with our policies.

'Item Did Not Arrive' Refunds – Booksellers are responsible for the item until the buyer receives it. Buyers are entitled to a full refund of the book price and shipping in the event that an item does not arrive. Buyers can initiate a refund for 'Item did not arrive' between 7 and 30 days after their order's estimated delivery date. Refunds for this reason cannot be initiated if the bookseller has entered valid tracking information online.

The following chart outlines the various return reasons available to buyers and booksellers as well as the compensation amounts based on the situation.

The book is shipped to the buyer and buyer claims it does not match the description on AbeBooks. If the seller does not agree that the item was "not as described" they are not required to refund Return shipping, but must accept the Return.

Once a refund for 'Item did not arrive' has been initiated, the bookseller is notified and encouraged to contact the buyer to resolve the issue. Once a resolution has been reached, only the buyer can cancel the refund request. If no resolution is reached and the buyer does not cancel the refund request, the refund will automatically complete 7 days after being initiated. AbeBooks reserves the right to refund buyers immediately in cases where the bookseller fails to respond and delivery confirmation has not been provided, or does not confirm delivery. To prevent such refunds, booksellers are encouraged to purchase tracking that includes signature delivery confirmation, and to enter the details online.

Bookseller Ratings

The aim of AbeBooks Bookseller Ratings is to help increase customer satisfaction and in turn increase the number of repeat buyers, which generate more sales for you. A large majority of booksellers have an excellent completion rating, between 90-100% and therefore a Bookseller Rating of 4-5 stars.

Completion Rating - All booksellers are encouraged to work on keeping the highest Bookseller Rating possible. Completion rate is measured by the number of ordered items minus the number rejected and returned, divided by the total number of ordered items.

The minimum required standards for completion are:

Sellers with 1 million or more listings online: 96%

Sellers with less than 1 million listings online: 90%

We do require that booksellers maintain the required minimum completion rating, over a 6 month period. Booksellers who fall below this minimum requirement will be contacted by our Sales and Account Management Team.

Tips for improving your completion rating:

Update your Inventory – Be sure to update your inventory at least once per week, ensuring to remove any sold books. Conduct regular stock checks and purge and reload your listings several times per year to keep your inventory up to date.

Vacation Tool – Expired orders count against your completion rating. Should you be away for more than 3 days and unable to process orders, use the Vacation Tool to temporarily remove your inventory from the website until you return. Should we notice that many orders are expiring on your account and are unable to reach you, we may put your account on vacation for you.

Return Rate - Booksellers are also required to keep returns below 5% of orders. Booksellers whose return rates go above 5% will be contacted and will be required to improve their service to buyers. Click here for a full overview of returns which affect your bookseller rating.

Tips for improving your return rate:

Trackable shipping – Using trackable shipping can reduce unnecessary refunds for the reason 'item did not arrive'. We recommend shipping with a carrier that provides signature confirmation whenever it is available for the buyer's country.

With AbeBooks you can use a variety of file formats and software to upload your books, including: Access, Excel and FileMaker Pro.

We recommend that you use our free inventory management software HomeBase.

However, if you have your own book list already or you wish to use your own inventory management system we can set this up for you. The data must be tab or tilde (~) delimited, and must be saved as a text file (file type = .txt).

There are 3 things that we require in order to convert your book data to our format:

The data must be consistently arranged in a file. All book records must contain exactly the same number of fields, in exactly the same order; each field must be separated with the same type of delimiter. If you are using a database or spreadsheet package then this is quite easy to accomplish. Please also ensure that in numerical fields, such as Publisher Year, that only figures are entered.

It is essential that each book record has a unique identifier. These can be numeric or alphanumeric, as long as they are unique. When you delete or sell a book, it is necessary to "retire" the associated ID number and use only new numbers for your new books. AbeBooks cannot guarantee the accuracy of a listing if a book number is re-used. A re-used book ID is any ID number that was previously assigned to a different book. Re-using book ID numbers may result in discrepancies. If you have more than one copy of a single listing you can include a quantity field in your book data to state how many copies of the title you have.

You will need to remove the books when they are sold (through other venues). You can do this by sending a file containing only the books you want to remove, by using a link on our Members Menu, or by adding a status code or a quantity field to your database or spreadsheet. For example: you can indicate that you have a book for sale with the number 1, and then when the book has been sold you can update the quantity to 0.

We can transform your data just about any way to fit into our database, so please feel free to set up your database to suit your needs.

If you do not yet have an inventory management system, you may wish to use the AbeBooks Inventory Template that we have already set up for you.

If your book data has separate fields for attributes you may wish to review how our BSA parsing works.

If your data does not have separate fields, but only uses the description field, then AbeBooks searches this field of the book data you send to us. This is known as description parsing. We check for the specific attributes that can be searched for using the Advanced Search function.

If you are not sure if parsing is switched on or off for your account please contact us.

Note:If you are using HomeBase to manage your inventory, you have the option of including attributes in the description field or by using the drop down menus. Please do not add attributes using both the description field and drop down menus. Adding information to both places may result in the attributes being displayed incorrectly. If you use the description field then we will switch on parsing for your account.

3. Individual conversion of your book data - Should you already have a customised inventory system such as MichaelCole, Booktrakker, Amazon, BookRouter - or use a program such as Excel, Access or Filemaker to list your books, we can create a conversion specifically for your data format. Simply send a copy of your first file together with a field description (1 = book ID, 2 = author, 3 = title, 4 = publisher etc.) to conversions@abebooks.com - please remember to mention which software you use. We will check your data and get back to you if we have any questions. To see an example please click here.

If you do not yet have an inventory management system, you may wish to use the AbeBooks Inventory Templatethat we have already set up for you.

4. XML-Interface (API) - For those with a high volume of sales we also offer a special XML-interface (API) that allows direct communication with the AbeBooks Server. The system ensures seamless integration of your AbeBooks-Business into your own order and inventory management system. Please contact usdirectly for further information on this service.

The way in which you update your inventory depends on the software and format you use to send AbeBooks data. Please use the appropriate link below to find further information on updating your inventory:

Online Inventory Management- Ideal for beginners who would like to enter their books directly online. ISBN Look-up feature is also available

For those booksellers with a high volume of sales we also offer a special XML-interface (API) that allows direct communication with the AbeBooks Server. The system ensures seamless integration of your AbeBooks-Business into your own order and inventory management system. Please contact usdirectly for further information on this service.

If you would like to try out our free inventory management software then you just need to download and install the software on your computer. You can complete the download 3 easy steps:

1. Click[Download HomeBase 2.3]2. Then click on the red [Download HomeBase] button located in the middle of the page3. Click on [Save File] (Download should be complete within 60 seconds depending on your connection

Now simply follow these steps to install HomeBase 2.3 on your computer:

1. Go to your computer [Desktop]2. Double-click on the [HomeBase23EN.EXE] icon3. Close any programs you have open and click [Next]4. Read through the HomeBase Software license agreement and select the [I Accept the terms in the HomeBase Software license agreement] option. Click the [Next] button5. To install HomeBase 2.3 to the default folder, click the [Next] button6. Select the [Yes] option button and then click the [Next] button7. Click the [Next] button8. Click the [Next] button to begin the installation9. Click the [Finish] button

Note for Windows Vista users: Unfortunately, the “Home Basic” version of Windows Vista does not support FTP (File Transfer Protocol) uploads. To use FTP in these Windows Vista environments you will need to acquire addition software. Please consult Microsoft support for further details. Only Windows Vista Ultimate Edition supports FTP.

However, you can create an export file in HomeBase and upload your books via your Members Menu once you have opened an AbeBooks bookseller account. Contact us and let us know which version of Windows Vista you are using, we will be happy to let you know how you can upload.

Note for Mac users: Unfortunately, version 2.3 of HomeBase cannot be run on the Mac system. Some Mac users have acquired and installed Virtual PC software, enabling a Virtual PC environment in which software such as HomeBase 2.3 can be run.

By uploading images you can potentially increase your sales by up to 30%!

Buyers are more likely to purchase a book with an image provided and are less likely to return an item that was listed with a supplied image.

AbeBooks allows sellers to provide up to 5 images per listing. Once your image has been processed, it will be associated with the corresponding listing and will be displayed in search results.

There are three ways to upload your images:

Through the Online Inventory Management System you can search for the book within your online inventory. You can then browse your computer for the corresponding image file and upload it directly. Alternatively you can also upload an image URL if the image is already stored online.

The third option for uploading image files is by adding image URLs to your current Book File Upload in a new 'Image URL' field. Please contact our Customer Service team before attempting this last option as your account will need to be configured accordingly.

Up to 5 image files can be uploaded per listing. You can select a main image, which will appear with the listing in Search results; and additional images will be displayed on the Listing Details page

Images can be saved either in GIF or JPG format. No other image formats are accepted

Uploaded image files can be up to a maximum size of 4MB. There is no pixel size limitation. Abebooks will resize the image after you upload it to us, however, this may take up to 24 hours for uploaded images to be indexed

Image URLs are also supported and can be added through the Online Inventory Management System (OIMS) or within uploaded inventory files. Please contact our Customer Service team before attempting the last option as your account will need to be configured accordingly.

URLs from Amazon, eBay, or other sites where you are unlikely to hold image copyright are not permitted and will be blocked upon upload

Once you have uploaded your images

Once your image has been processed, it will be associated with the corresponding listing and will be displayed in search results. Buyers can also filter their searches for books with Bookseller-supplied photos so the more images you upload the better visibility your books will have in the search results.

If you have uploaded your images via FTPS or through the Members Menu you will receive a 'Error image report' if there is an issue with any of your images. Should this issue continue please contact our Customer Service team.

Occasionally, you may need to contact your AbeBooks buyers once they have placed an order with you. This may be to discuss shipping their order or processing a bookseller direct payment.

You can find their email address on the order notification message and also on the order update page in your bookseller account.

Should you come across a language barrier in your communications with the buyer, you can use an online translator such as Google Translate, Bable Fish or PROMT to assist you in understanding the buyer's enquiry or reply.

AbeBooks processes credit card order payments on behalf of our member booksellers. We in turn credit booksellers for these orders via weekly bank transfer, monthly bank transfer or via monthly cheque. The way in which we can credit you depends on the country in which your bank resides.

We can credit you for your orders where the payment was processed by AbeBooks, via weekly bank transfers if your bank is in one of the below countries. Please enter your banking details in your AbeBooks account.

Every Friday, you will receive an advance email notification of payment for the sales of the previous 7 days. The payment is transferred to your bank by EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) one week later, on the following Friday. Depending on your bank's own procedures, it can take from 1 to 7 days for the payment to reach your account.

This period is due to individual bank procedures and processing times.

Payments below USD 1.00, GBP 1.00 or EUR 1.00, will not be issued. Instead, the balance due to you is carried forward and added to your sales the following week.

Subscription fees are offset against sales on the first Friday of the month. If sales for that week are insufficient to cover the amount owing to AbeBooks, the balance due will be charged to the credit card you have on file with us.

If your bank account is not in one of the above countries (Belgium - France - Germany - Ireland - Italy - Netherlands - Spain - Switzerland - UK ) but is still within the European Union, we can make monthly bank transfers to you at no cost. Please contact us with the following details:

If your bank is outside the European Union, we can send payment via monthly cheque or monthly international bank transfer.

It usually takes up to 2 weeks after you receive your payment notification to issue monthly cheques. Payment cheques more than 2,000 Euros will be sent by courier to ensure prompt delivery. Payment cheques less than 2,000 Euros will be sent by standard mail. To shorten your waiting period, you can choose to have your cheque sent via courier at a maximum cost of 23 Euro. Please contact us if you prefer shipment by courier for your cheques.

Alternatively, you can receive payment by monthly international bank transfer. If you would like payment via monthly international bank transfer, please contact us with the following details:

Please Note: You will need to bear the cost of the international bank transfer. It will be deducted from the gross amount before payment is sent. Unfortunately, fees vary and we do not know how much they will be in advance. Please keep in mind that your bank may also charge you for receiving an international bank transfer.

Your statement is a summary of the previous month's sales and payments. It contains the monthly total of your gross payable sales, offset against the monthly totals of commission, payment service fees and subscription fees charged. If you look at your weekly summaries, the totals together match the figure that you see on your monthly statement.

Sample statement with explanatory notes:

A general outline of the payment process is as follows:

Every Friday, we send you a payment notification email that includes all sales for that week. From those sales, we offset your commissions and credit card payment service fees

On the first of each month, we apply your subscription fees to your account. On the first Friday of the month, your payment is therefore offset by that weeks commissions and payment service fees as well as your subscription

Should the amount that you owe us be greater than the payment for your sales, we will charge your credit card to make up the difference. As long as your sales are greater than your fees, we never need to charge your card

Please note that all EU sellers are charged VAT on subscription fees, processing fees and sales commissions in accordance with EU regulations. If you are VAT registered and did not enter your VAT number during the registration process, please contact our customer service team in order to update your account and be exempt from the VAT charge in future. Please ensure to include the following information when contacting us: Name of the VAT registered company, Address of the company and Company status (Ltd., PLC, etc.)

In accordance with South African regulations, AbeBooks charges South African VAT (14%) on fees and commissions for sellers located in South Africa.

Payment notification emails are advanced notice of your deposit; the funds will be transferred to your bank one week later, and then deposited by your bank within a few days.

AbeBooks currently offers sellers located in Germany, who pay their fees in Euros, the ability to pay AbeBooks by direct debit. In order to comply with SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) regulations, and so we may offer direct debit to other sellers within the European Union in the future, the following update has been implemented.

Note: This information applies only to bank account information provided specifically for direct debit, where direct debit is offered to sellers (EU only). If you’ve provided your bank account information for EFT payment purposes only, the following information does not apply.

Your bank to debit your account in accordance with the instructions from AbeBooks

As a part of your rights, you are entitled to a refund from your bank under the terms and conditions of your agreement with your bank. A refund must be claimed within 8 weeks starting from the date on which your account was debited.

Frequently Asked Questions:What is SEPA? SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a payment-integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euro. Beginning Feb 1, 2014, all euro Direct Debit payments between euro zone bank accounts must conform to SEPA regulations, including collection of Direct Debit Mandates and routing of payments using BIC and IBAN numbers.

What is a Direct Debit Mandate?A Mandate is the authorization you provide to AbeBooks to direct debit your bank account. By providing AbeBooks with your debit account information, you have provided AbeBooks with a Direct Debit Mandate. SEPA regulations require that each Mandate is assigned a Mandate ID number.

Where can I view my Mandate and Mandate ID?If you have provided a Mandate, a printable version, including your Mandate ID, is accessible through the ‘My Bank Account Information’ link in your Members Menu.

Can I cancel my Direct Debit Mandate? If so, how?You can cancel your Mandate at any time. To do so, simply delete your direct debit bank account details through the ‘My Bank Account Information’ link in your Members Menu

Does my Mandate ever expire?Your mandate expires 36 months after the last attempt to apply a charge to your account by direct debit, or 36 months after your mandate was created, whichever is later.

It is always important to ensure that your listings are being promoted in the best possible way. To offer our support, we have created a list of tips to help you increase your sales. Sometimes only small changes are needed to make to your book data more unique and appealing to buyers. Whilst buyers may be looking to save either on book prices or shipping, they certainly will want to know that when buying they are making a good investment. By giving them all the information they need you can help with their purchase decision and make buying books online worth their while, in turn improving your sales and increasing your returning customers:

Upload Pictures

Expand Your Book Descriptions

Create Catalogues & Categorise Your Books

Keep your Inventory Updated

Competitive Shipping Rates & Speeds

Customise your Storefront

Provide Professional Customer Service

More Tips

Upload Pictures

A picture says more than a 1000 words and pictures of your inventory can help increase your sales considerably. Buyers like to see what they are buying - especially if a book is quite expensive or rare. Having pictures of your books online also allows you to participate in other special promotions throughout the year. You will also be able to showcase your books in the Rare Books Room, which we promote regularly in buyer newsletters.

Ensure you have described your inventory accurately and have used the description to its fullest, offering buyers all the information they need to know. A more extensive description, along with a good picture, can really make a difference to a buyer when deciding whose book to buy. Additionally, your books will then receive more search hits as not only titles and authors are matched but also words within the book descriptions. The more information you include, the better chance you have of your books being found. This is especially true of books with no ISBN or whose titles do not always reflect their contents. You can give a comprehensive overview of the bibliographic information, the condition of the book and also part of the synopsis, for example.

Why is synopsis information important? For those buyers who do not know exact book titles, and where the title of a book does not really reflect the contents, buyers will be searching by keyword for a genre, a character, or the topic of the book. They will only find your books if you have that information available. By including part of the synopsis, a buyer will be more likely to find your books in their searches. You can add information to your book descriptions at any time!

Keywords - are another tool for making your books more visible in the search results. Keywords should be as book specific as possible. Using generic words, like 'history' for example, will mean that your book(s) appears as one of several million in the search results and it becomes difficult to find your book(s). By being more content specific, for example - 18th century history Devon Cornwall - you will greatly reduce the number of search results and help the buyer get to your books more quickly. As the search runs a full text search you should use words different to those used in your book description.

You can even add French, German, Spanish and Italian keywords to your book data; by doing so you will reach many more buyers abroad. You can make use of our translated Key Words Facility for tips on German and French keywords.

Signed Books, First Editions etc. – Ensure that in your book descriptions you have also included special features, such as signed or first editions, so that buyers looking for these kind of books can find yours in the search results. Buyers can refine their searches using certain attributes - whether first editions, a hardback or a copy signed by the author. You can view an example of this here.

Include publisher information (Publisher name, place, year). Your books will then appear in search results where buyers filter down to year of publication.

For new books always enter the ISBN - We can then expand on your book data using our stored bibliographic data and recommendations.

Cataloguing your books correctly, not only makes it easier for buyers to find your books in their searches, but also allows us to include your books in any buyer communication that we do. We send newsletters to various different buyer groups and we are always interested in bookseller content that we can promote to attract buyers. Don't forget that we can only promote books where a good picture of the book is available.

For further information on optimising your book data, see our book data information and format recommendation post here.

Create Catalogues & Categorise Your Books

While many buyers use the search function to find the books they looking for, many buyers also use browsing to find books. Buyers have two ways to browse on AbeBooks by AbeBooks Category or Bookseller Catalogue. By creating catalogues for your books, buyers will not only be able to search your books but also browse your books by subject. You can thereby help them to find and buy more of your books.

The appearance of a book within a category provides search engines with a path through which that book can be found. This means that if a buyer searches for the book on a search engine such as Google, your listing will be able to be found. Taking the time to categorise your listings will give you a strong competitive edge against those booksellers who do not.

Keep Your Inventory Updated

Keeping your inventory up-to-date is essential in helping your bookseller account to achieve its best performance. Not only does this prevent buyer dissatisfaction but it also helps you maintain a high Bookseller Rating. Keeping your inventory up to date includes:

Removing sold books, which have sold in the store or on other platforms.

Updating the book's description if you find it is not accurate or correct.

Adding new books with new book id numbers; this will generate wants matches should buyers be looking for that particular book.

For further information on updating your inventory, please choose the method you use here.

Buyers will want to know exactly when they are likely to receive their orders. Ensure that your shipping rates and speeds really reflect the services you can offer. If you do not include a buyer's country in your shipping matrix, the buyer is then shown your International Rate, which could be higher than what they would need to pay. Adding neighbouring countries, such as Ireland or other European countries, to your matrix will give buyers the correct shipping rate and speed and you will have an advantage over other sellers who have not added those countries to their matrix.

Free shipping - You may wish to consider offering Free Domestic Shipping - giving buyers an added incentive to order from you. Your books would then be included in our Free Shipping Room where buyer can search exclusively through those books.

Customise your Storefront

Personalising your Storefront can really help buyers to gain a deeper insight into your bookselling business and through this gain trust and loyalty that will lead them back to your shop time and time again. One of the Storefront features is the ability to upload your own photo, image or logo to the page. This could be your business logo, a photo of your shop, your books or even yourself... It's entirely up to you.

Add the URL of your Storefront in all your email communication. By doing this you provide the buyer with quick and easy access to your book offers.

Further information on how to customise your storefront please click here.

Provide Professional Customer Service

Buyers on AbeBooks return time and time again when they have had a positive experience. They also return to the same booksellers, when they receive great customer service directly from that bookseller. Providing high quality service will not only improve buyer satisfaction but can also increase your number of repeat customers. As a minimum requirement, we ask that you follow our Customer Service guidelines:

Reply to all buyer enquiries within 2 business days. Simply responding to buyers greatly helps build buyer trust. If you use an email service such as Microsoft Outlook or Google Mail, you can filter or search your AbeBooks emails to help differentiate between order emails and buyer enquiries.

When going on holiday for 3 consecutive days or more, use the Vacation Tool to temporarily remove your books to prevent unfulfilled orders and disappointed buyers.

Review the "special instructions" with every order to see if the customer has any additional needs.

Be customer-focused in all of your interactions with your buyers.

Provide refunds in a timely manner. You can process a refund for the buyer up to 90 days passed the processing date. When you receive a book back, ensure to complete the return so the buyer is refunded.

More Tips

Review Your Book Count - Your book count is usually an important factor in terms of visibility. The more books you have online, the more chance you have of buyers seeing your books. If you have the inventory to do so, we always recommend uploading at least 200 books. You can also optimise your book count for the monthly subscriptions rate you pay. For example if you are paying £25 to list 2,000 books, you could double your inventory for the same monthly rate.

Payment Methods – By offering buyers a wide range of payment methods, you can reach more buyers who prefer to not pay via credit card. Your accepted payment methods will be displayed on the book details pages.

Promotions - By holding a book sale you can promote your store and your inventory, which will increase sales. For more information about the requirements and advantages please click here.

It may well be that you also have a free buyer account with AbeBooks.co.uk. However all bookseller accounts can only be accessed via AbeBooks.com

If you have checked that you are on AbeBooks.com and that your password and email address are correct you should be able to sign in. If you are still experiencing difficulties please contact us. It is important that you can access your account to ensure that orders are processed and that your inventory is up-to-date.

If you previously had your books listed in HomeBase and your computer has crashed, you can recover your information. Simply download and installHomeBase, if you no longer have it, and then download your online listings by following the instructions provided below. Please be aware that only the online listings will be downloaded, any internalinformation you had had (such as sold books, customer data & invoices) will be lost as this was only stored in your computer.

There is a two-part process for copying your book inventory from the AbeBooks system to your HomeBase program: Downloading and Importing.

This begins the process for creating the book data file - it may take 30 minutes to complete. You will then be sent the following email note stating the book data file is ready for download:

"...As per you recent request, a HomeBase import file called HBImport.txt has been created for download on the AbeBooks website. Please download the file via a link on our Members Menu titled 'Download Pending HomeBase Import Files'."...

Return to the Members Menu (you may need to sign on again) and again select [Downloads] and then click the [Download your pending HomeBase file now!] button

Then select [Click here to download the latest HomeBase import file

Once the entire HomeBase file is displayed on your screen, pull down the File menu and choose "Save As..." which will display a default file name

Select the directory on your computer where you want this file saved and where it will be easiest for you to find the file, we suggest on your Desktop

Click the [Save] button and the inventory file will begin transferring to your computer

STEP 2. Importing:

Start up your HomeBase program

Near the top left of your screen pull down the File menu and choose "Import"

On the "Book Import Control Panel" window, choose either the "Merge" or "ZAP" option:

ZAP - deletes your existing books and replaces them with the book data from AbeBooks.

Merge - adds the books from AbeBooks to the books you already have in HomeBase.

Click [OK]. An "Open" screen will appear

Select the inventory file you wish to open and click [Open]

Click on the Desktop icon

Select the HBIMPORT.TXT file

Note: HomeBase will process the file and display the number of books transferred.

Click [OK] to close the download report screen

The HomeBase will now list the current number of books for sale contained in your database. The count should include the books imported from the AbeBooks system.

Bookseller Ratings are based on your completion rate only which is defined as orders that have been completed without cancellation or return/refund.

This is generally calculated in the following manner:

Completion Rate = (Total Number of Order Items – Unfulfilled Order Items – Returned Order Items) / Total Number of Order Items

The Completion Rate Percentage is shown as a percentage. So, for example if you had a total of 75 orders, cancelled three of them and had two returns, your completion rate would be 93%.

(75 - 3 - 2) / 75 = 93%

The completion rate percentages are translated into a 5-star rating system.

Displayed Rating and Ratings History:The star rating shown on the search results is based on a bookseller's 6 month completion rate.

A more detailed Ratings History for the bookseller (previous 1, 3, 6 and 12 month ratings.) is available through the Book Details page.

1.From the search results click on the title of the book you are interested in.

2.Click on the "Bookseller & Payment Information" tab.

3. Click on the "Ratings History" link.

4. A small window pops up displaying the ratings history for the previous 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.

Updates to Bookseller Ratings:

The star ratings for each time period are updated at the beginning and middle of every month to show the most recent order history.

New Booksellers:For new booksellers a default 4 star rating is granted until your first 4 orders are processed.Once four or more orders have been established, the star rating will then be based on the calculated completion rate as detailed above.

We understand that there are certain situations beyond a bookseller's control when it comes to the successful completion of orders. For that reason, we have made exceptions when calculating Bookseller Ratings. The following chart outlines what is included in the calculation and what is not included:

* Extra charges rejected: Once the buyer has rejected the order you will have the opportunity to process the order. We understand if you wish not to ship the book with a loss of postage in which case you can reject the order. Any orders that are rejected after the buyer rejects the extra charges request will not count against your Bookseller Rating.

Note: Please do not let orders expire, even if the buyer has rejected the shipping these will count against your Bookseller Rating.

If you have an order that you feel should not be included as part of your Bookseller Rating, you have the ability to exclude it from the calculation. Up to 3 orders within a 12 month time period may be excluded by you.

To exclude an order from your Bookseller Rating:

From the "My Account stats" Menu, click on [Completion Rate]

Under the "Unfulfilled Items" or "Returned Items" column, click on the number

Locate the order you want to exclude and click the [Request Status Change] next to it

Complete the Status Change request by entering as many details as possible into the [Comments] box and then click [Submit]. Once you have submitted your request, the exclusion will take place automatically and you don't need to wait for a response from AbeBooks customer service

Note: An exclusion does not change the counts against your Bookseller Rating (i.e. It will not increase the number of fulfilled orders.) rather it changes the number of orders used to calculate your Bookseller Rating. For example, if you had 100 orders with 3 unfulfilled orders and submitted an exclusion for one of the unfulfilled orders, your rating would be based on 99 orders and 2 unfulfilled.

One of the best ways to attract new buyers is with a high Bookseller Rating. We encourage all listing booksellers to work on improving their Bookseller Rating, which is displayed to buyers on each listing.

Improvement Opportunities

The first step to improving your Bookseller rating is to identify the most common reasons for your unfulfilled or returned orders. If you notice a pattern, you can determine which steps to take to reduce those types of unfulfilled or returned orders. It is best to try to ensure that the following occur as seldom as possible:

Returned Items: Follow the tips below to minimise the chance of a buyer returning an order and reduce your overall Return Rate

Rejected Orders: Keep track of the reasons why you reject orders and consider ways to reduce these instances

Expired Orders: Be sure to process your orders within 2 days of receiving them. We recommend signing on to your account at least 3 times per week to check for new orders. Please do not let orders expire! When going on holiday for 3 consecutive days or more, use the Vacation Toolto temporarily remove your books and prevent unfulfilled orders and disappointed buyers

You can easily check the reasons for your unfulfilled or returned orders through your Ratings Tracker:

Select the 3, 6 or 12-month rating period from the Order Period drop-down list. Click the order count under [Unfulfilled Items] or [Returned Items] to view the order counts for the unfulfilled and return reasons

Top Tips When Dealing With Returns

Here are some tips to best help you reduce the overall number of your returns:

Keep up-to-date on what the correct return reasons are to ensure that you not only refund the buyer the correct amount but also do not reduce your Bookseller Rating. To view a summary of returns and refund reasons please click here

To avoid unnecessary refunds from being initiated keep in touch with your buyers. Good customer service not only increases buyer confidence in your services, but can also prevent buyers from initiating refunds too early

If you send via trackable means, be sure to add the tracking information to your orders. Buyers can no longer initiate a refund for 'Item did not arrive', provided you have updated the order online

If you have not received a returned item, you should report a missing shipment online via the order processing page to avoid the buyer being refunded until the book has been returned, or a tracking number has been provided

To minimise refunds for "Item did not arrive", ensure your shipping matrix accurately reflects your actual shipping times. In addition, always ship your orders within 2 days of processing them

To minimise returns for "Damaged Item" please pack your books well to prevent damage in the post

When dealing with returns for "Item Not As Described" it is especially important to review buyer comments for this reason, and then use their feedback to update and improve your descriptions. We also recommend clicking the [Book Details] link on the order processing page to review your description and make sure it accurately reflects the book you will be shipping

Top Tips For Improving Your Return Rate

Describe your books accurately. Make sure all bibliographic details are correct and that any notable details about the book are mentioned, including full disclosure of all flaws

Adding images to your AbeBooks inventory can result in fewer returns, since buyers see the book they are ordering in advance. Providing your own images is also one of the best ways to help increase your sales by making your listings more attractive

Process the order only after you have located the book and verified that it matches the description the buyer saw online. If the book can't be found, or if it doesn't match the online description, reject the order. A rejected order will impact your Completion Rate but not your Return Rate

Send your orders with trackable shipping. This is the best protection against claims of non-delivery and returns for 'Item did not arrive.' Trackable shipping also instils buyer confidence, resulting in repeat business for you

Top Tips For Keeping Your Inventory Up-To-Date

Ensuring that your online inventory is up-to-date and accurate will help to keep your Bookseller Rating high. Below you will find our top tips:

Keep your AbeBooks inventory up-to-date by removing any titles that you have sold through other channels

Upload your complete inventory on a weekly basis in order to refresh your listings

Conduct a purge and reload on a monthly basis to ensure that any transmission errors are corrected

Carry out regular stock checks to ensure that you are listing titles that you can provide

We hope these tips are helpful for you! If you are not sure of the correct return reason, or if you are having trouble with your inventory or account, please do let us know so that we can immediately help, and keep the negative affects to your Bookseller Rating to a minimum.

Our Customer Service team is available from Monday to Friday 8am - 5pm GMT and can be contacted via our online contact form. Registered bookseller members can also use the call-back option in the Members Menu to ask for a telephone call during our business hours.

It is possible to catalogue in HomeBase on more than one PC without a network connection by transferring the data via disk or email.

1. The main concern with this method is that the book numbers do not clash. So before you proceed, you need to set aside a group of numbers to use in HomeBase on the other PC(s). For example, for working at home on a laptop bookseller Smith started his numbering at 10000 and has allowed up to 20000 for this purpose, so the allocated batch is 10000-20000.

To set the numbering to start from a certain number you first need to switch off the auto-numbering under [View] > [Options] > [Editing], then when you add the first book you will be able to enter the starting number in the Book# field. Once you have entered the first book with the appropriate number, you can then turn on the auto-numbering feature again to ensure that the numbers correspond accordingly.

2. Once you have added books or updated existing entries, you then need to proceed with the export of a data file. To do this select [File] > [Import/Export] > [Export] (Not to AbeBooks!), then select to save the file on your PC Desktop and follow through the displayed messages until the export is complete.

Now you can save the file on disk or to CD (if you have a burner installed). If your main PC has an Internet connection, then you could send the file as an email attachment to your email address.

3. The final step is the import of the data file. In HomeBase select [File] > [Import/Export] > [Import], you then locate and open the file for import (via the window provided), then select [Merge] (Please note that if you select [ZAP] then the file for import would replace everything already stored in HomeBase on your main PC!). You will be asked ‘Would you like to do a backup’. Click [Yes], HomeBase will then back up your current data and import in your new data

When the import is complete locate the last book added in your main database (not the imported book entries) click to highlight the entry and then switch the auto-numbering back on. Upon closing HomeBase you will be asked if you would like to do a backup, which we recommend you do then.

If you possess advanced technical knowledge or have a technician, you can also setup and run HomeBase on a network of computers. Simply let us know if you would like more information about networking HomeBase.

2. Save the backup file to a portable device, such as a CD, disk or USB stick

3. Insert the device into the new computer

4. Start HomeBase 2.3 on your new computer

5. Recover the file from your storage device

The full instructions for each of these steps is below.While the instructions may look long, the process is actually quite easy and you should not have any problems.

Please note that you can also use any type of storage to transfer the file, including CD, disk or USB stick.If you do not have those options available, you could email the file to yourself and open the attachment on the "new" computer.

If you have not downloaded and installed HomeBase on your new computer yet, please Download HomeBase and install before proceeding.

HomeBase automatically generates a backup name and places the file in the backup directory of HomeBase. Change the "Save in" location so that the file will be saved to floppy disk, CD or USB key. A progress window shows the progress of the backup. When the backup is complete, the "Backup Data" dialogue box is displayed. Click the [OK] button.

Your backup file has now been saved.Now, you just need to recover the backup file on the new computer.

Note: If you receive an error message when you save the file to the CD, disk or USB stick, it likely means that there is not enough room to save the file.You may need to try saving the file to your desktop first so that you can check the file size and then move the file onto a larger storage device.

Recover the backup file:

When you recover your backup file, any information you have in HomeBase already will be overwritten with the data in the backup file:

5. Click the [Open] button. A progress window shows the recovery process. When the recovery is complete, the "Recover" dialogue box is displayed

6. Click the [OK] button. The Auto-Generate Book Numbers screen is displayed. If you would like HomeBase to generate book numbers for you click [Yes].If you do not want to use this feature, and would rather generate the book numbers manually, click [No] (AbeBooks recommends using the auto-numbering feature in HomeBase.)

Our New Bookseller Guides are just the thing to get a good start selling on AbeBooks and provide an overview of the important functions available in your AbeBooks bookseller account! Please select the appropriate guide below based on how you send your book data to AbeBooks:

When a buyer first places an order with a credit card, it is not immediately charged. Instead, when you update the order to "Will Ship" the charge is attempted.

If the credit card is declined the status will update to "credit card rejected" and you will not be able to access the shipping manifest. This is to prevent books from being shipped without payment. The buyer is notified by an automated email of the order cancellation and your book is restored online. The buyer is asked to check their card details and to place their order again. Most credit card rejections are due to a simple mistake when the buyer enters their credit card details. Please note that these orders will not count against your Bookseller Rating.

Reasons for credit card rejections can be as follows:

• The credit card number or the expiry date the buyer provided us was incorrect

• During the transfer of funds, there was an Internet connection problem

• The buyer's bank or credit card company was having technical issues

• The company that processes credit cards on our behalf was having technical issues

Are you a collector, author or independent publisher? Do you have less than 150 books to sell?

You may find that a more direct approach to selling your books can reap better rewards. According to the type of books you wish to sell, consult the options below and take advantage of what AbeBooks can offer.

Valuable Books

You may wish to contact booksellers using AbeBooks. They may be interested in listing your particular books through their account or buying them directly from you. Find yourself a specialist dealer or one of your local booksellers through our Bookseller search page.

Second-hand books

If you have a number of second hand books you can try our BuyBack Programme. Our partner bookseller buys back over 1,000,000 titles including textbooks, trade books, best sellers, cookbooks, coffee table books, and even out-of-print books, and shipping is FREE!

Writing/Publishing your own books?

We recommendcontacting your local AbeBooks bookseller to see whether they may be interested in selling your books on your behalf or buying them directly. You may consider referring your publisher to AbeBooks to propose putting their entire catalogue online, including your book/s.

Managing your own AbeBooks bookseller account

We would be happy to welcome you to the community! To ensure you are prepared and to give your business the best possible start on AbeBooks, please read through our information pages before starting the bookseller registration form.

At AbeBooks, we have learned that happy customers frequently become return customers. Often, buyers who are satisfied with the service and products of one bookseller will do business with that bookseller again in the future. Good service includes a low postage fee and speed for ordered items.

When you receive an order you can adjust the shipping charge if needed. Extra charges can be requested for a heavy/oversized items or multi-volume sets, to pay applicable taxes, cover trackable shipping, or to purchase insurance for a valuable item. Likewise, if a book is light or if the shipping charge is too high, you can also reduce the shipping charges when processing the order.

Instructions on adjusting your overall shipping rates and speeds can be found here.

To request extra shipping charges for a single item Order

The request for extra payment for shipping charges varries depending on whether payment is processed by AbeBooks or by the bookseller.

Payment processed by Abebooks (Credit Card)

If payment is being processed by AbeBooks, you can request extra charges by following the steps below:

1. Select the [Extra Shipping] option in the status column2. Click the [Save Order Changes] button3. Enter the extra charge in the "Increase By" text box. We also strongly encourage you to enter an explanation in the ‘Comments’ field. Buyers are more likely to accept extra changes if they understand them4. Click the [Save Shipping Details] button

If you add a charge, an email message is sent to the buyer notifying them of the request. The buyer then has 4 days in which to accept or decline the extra charge request. If the buyer rejects the request or does not respond at all, then you still have the choice whether to process it at the original shipping quoted or to reject the order. Orders that you reject onlineafter a buyer declines an extra shipping charge do not count against your Bookseller Rating.

For payment methods other than credit card (not processed by AbeBooks)

You need to contact the buyer directly after processing the order, notifying the buyer of the total order value (to include any increase or reduction in shipping costs) and payment instructions. Such orders should not be shipped until payment has been received. If payment is not forthcoming then the order should be cancelled.

To reduce shipping charges for a single item order

If payment is processed by Abebooks (Credit Card) you can easily reduce the shipping charges when processing the order. To do so please follow the instructions below:

1. Select the [Reduce Shipping] option in the status column2. Click on the [Save Order Changes] button3. Enter the reduced amount in the "Decrease By" text box4. Click the [Save Shipping Details] button

The shipping charges are then automatically reduced and the order is processed. A confirmation of the new amount is sent to the buyer, but for information only as we assume that buyers are happy with any reduction. Therefore you should immediately proceed with printing the shipping manifest and posting the order to the buyer.

Note: If an order is placed on an Abebooks domain where the buyer's purchase currency is different to your data upload currency then it may not be possible to reduce the shipping cost to £0.00, but £0.01 should be possible in such cases.

For further information on reducing or increasing shipping for multiple orders click here.

At AbeBooks, we have learned that happy customers frequently become return customers. Often, buyers who are satisfied with the service and products of one bookseller will do business with that bookseller again in the future. Good service includes a low postage fee and speed for ordered items.

When you receive an order you can further adjust the shipping charge if needed. Extra charges can be requested for a heavy/oversized items or multi-volume sets, to pay applicable taxes, or to purchase insurance for a valuable item. Likewise, if a book is light or if the shipping charge is too high, you can also reduce the shipping charges when processing the order.

You can find instructions on adjusting your overall shipping rates and speeds here.

To request Extra Shipping Charges for a multiple item order

The way that you request extra shipping for a multiple item order depands on the payment method.

Payment processed by Abebooks (Credit Card)

If payment is being processed by AbeBooks then please follow the instructions below:

1. Select the [Extra Shipping] option in the status column2. Click the [Save Order Changes] button3. Enter the extra charge in the "Increase By" text box. We also strongly encourage you to enter an explanation in the ‘Comments’ field. Buyers are more likely to accept extra changes if they understand them4. Click the [Save Shipping Details] button

If you add a charge on multiple items in one order, you will need to add the shipping amount for each item in the order. Therefore you should divide the extra shipping amount by the amount of items and enter the appropriate amount in the extra charge field for each item.

For payment methods other than credit card (not processed by AbeBooks)

If you need to request extra charges for orders where payment is NOT processed by AbeBooks, you need to contact the buyer directly after processing the order, notifying the buyer of the total order value (to include any increase or reduction in shipping costs) and payment instructions. Such orders should not be shipped until payment has been received. If payment is not forthcoming then the order should be cancelled.

To reduce shipping charges for a multiple item order

If you wish to reduce the shipping charges for a multiple item order when payment is processed by yourselves, then you will need to agree on this when arranging payment with the buyer.

Alternatively please follow the instructions below on reducing shipping charges when payment is by credit card.

Payment processed by Abebooks (Credit Card)

You will need to reduce the shipping for each book in the order; you cannot reduce the shipping cost of any one item to zero. If you attempt to reduce the shipping to zero, an error message will appear and you will be asked to insert shipping changes again. For example: you receive an order with two items in it. The shipping on the first item is £7 and for the additional item it is £3. If it would cost you only £5 to ship both items, then you can reduce the shipping cost of the first item by £3 and the second by £2 when you process the order.

For instructions on increasing or reducing shipping costs on single item orders please click here.

Important: For your upload to be successful, the structure of the file must be preserved and the headings should not be modified.

We recommend that you refrain from using abbreviations, which are not generally understood by most buyers when searching for books.

To optimise the way your inventory appears in the search results, certain fields require exact terms, which we have provided in the Notes section of the table below. These fields are marked with an asterisk (*).

The fields in red are compulsory.

Any additional descriptive information should be added to the Description Field.

Field Header

Maximum Characters

Description

Notes

listingid

40

Unique code for each item

Important: this code should never be reused for a different item

title

750

Title (and sub-title)

author

750

Name of the Author

Recommended Format:

Surname, First Name

illustrator

255

Name of the Illustrator

Recommended Format:

Surname, First Name

price

10

Price (numeric value)

Enter the price in numeric format (without text or currency symbols)

quantity

Qty max.: 999

Number of available items

Qty > =1: available for sale

Qty = 0: unavailable (will be deleted from the site)

Important: an empty field will be interpreted as a field with the quantity of 1

booktype

30

Type of book

This field allows you to define the type of listing, for example: book, e-book, audio book, postcard, journal, print-on-demand item

description

4000

Description of the item

Can include all of the information that could not be entered into the other fields (Notes on the condition of the book, the binding, etc.)

Please note that if you sell international editions you need to add the term: "International Edition" at the start of the description text.

Additionally, if you sell print-on-demand books you must add "Print on Demand" at the start of the description text.

bindingtext*

30

Binding of the item

Terms to use:

Hardcover / Hardback

Softcover / Paperback

No binding (eg. If the item is an e-book)

bookcondition*

30

Condition of the book

Terms to use:

New

As New

Fine

Very Good

Good

Fair

Poor

publishername

750

Name of the publisher

placepublished

80

Place where the item was published

yearpublished

4 figures

Year of publication

This field should only contain the year in a 4 digit format (eg. 1989). Any other date format should be added to the description field.

isbn

13

10 or 13 digit ISBN, without spaces or hyphens

sellercatalog1

--

sellercatalog2

--

sellercatalog3

100

Name of the catalogue which the book belongs to.

Each listing can be associated with up to 3 catalogs and each catalog should be entered in it's own unique field.

The catalogues are visible on the AbeBooks bookseller Storefront.

To help buyers navigate catalogues easily, the maximum number of catalogues should be 100.

abecategory

10

Number of the AbeBooks category which the book should be associated with.